Race battle engulfs an Alabama Democratic Party in shambles

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Democratic Party has had a rough go of it recently. After 136 years of power in Alabama, Democrats were swept out in a single election in 2010, then further weakened in 2014 as Republicans continued to grow their legislative majorities. Now a battle between the Party’s Black Caucus and white members threatens to bring its already limited operations to a screeching halt.

Proceedings within the Alabama Democratic Party once again became bumpy as Black leadership—most notably longtime Democratic Party and AEA leader Joe Reed—refused to fill vacant seats on the State Democratic Executive Committee with non-Black or minority candidates who hadn’t beseeched the Black Caucus’s approval.

Before Saturday there were approximately 50 open Executive Committee seats needing to be filled. Only 11 of them were approved this weekend.

A diverse and growing number of younger party members calling themselves the Alabama Democratic Reform Caucus had proposed changes to the by-laws to help make the party more reflective of the national Democratic Party.

Currently, the Alabama Democratic Party’s by-laws state that the Executive Committee must contain a proportion of minorities equal to the demographic makeup of the electorate, or of the state as a whole—whichever is greater.

A change introduced by the Reform Caucus would have tweaked the definition of “minority” to include “Blacks, Native Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, women, youth and LGBTs.”

Reed and his followers soundly shut down the amendment, but maintained the empty seats would eventually be filled.

“We’re going to fill them,” Reed said. “But we’re going to fill them with people we know.”

One prominent Alabama Democrat, State Senator Vivian Figures (D-Mobile)—an African American—called out the Black Caucus for their refusal to approve anyone who didn’t “Kiss the ring.”

“And we all know what ring that is,” Figures added, to cheers from the crowd.

“We’re supposed to be the party of everybody, coming together, and working together,” she continued. “And we have allowed one person to dis-integrate the Alabama State Democratic Party. And we all know who that is!”

Reed, whose official position in the Party is Vice Chairman for minority affairs, caught heat around the elections last fall when he blamed the Democrats’ election day losses on whites voting Republican against their own self-interest simply because President Obama is black.

“Too many whites in Alabama are motivated to vote against Obama because he is black,” he said bluntly. “Now they will tell you it’s because he’s liberal but he’s really not liberal in my view. But he sure as hell is black.”

ADP chairwoman Nancy Worley told AL.com she thinks the vacancies will be filled.

“I think Republicans fuss behind closed doors,” Worley said. “We Democrats are open in everything we do. Gradually, everybody works out their issues and moves ahead.”

Sen. Figures, however, sounded less optimistic about the future of the party in its current state, saying “Unless we change things we are never going to get any Democrats elected to any statewide offices.”

One progressive activist was even more blunt on Twitter.

@JuntoGunto,the Joe and Nancy show is running off dedicated/courageous ppl by not allowing them to work in #ALpolitics,no white Ds allowed.

— Carrie (@ceejay410) July 13, 2015